In the Jewish tradition, the holiday of Hanukkah is called the Festival of Lights. Jews celebrate it to commemorate the rededication of the temple in 165 BCE. Three years earlier, the Syrians, under the rule of King Antiochus, conquered Jerusalem and ordered all of its Jewish occupants to worship the Greek gods. Many refused, and the high priest Mattathias and his sons led the band of rebels who fled into the hills and became known as the Macabees. When Mattathias died a year later, his son Judah took over, and the group soon managed to defeat Antiochus' army despite being badly outnumbered and not having enough weapons.

They reclaimed the holy temple only to find that it had been desecrated. Greek idols were prominently displayed while Jewish relics were in ruins. They lit the menorah, a seven-armed lamp meant to remain alight day and night, but only had enough pure oil for one day. That small amount of oil miraculously lasted for eight days, enough time for the priests to procure more. During this time, the Jewish community was able to restore the temple and hold a rededication ceremony.

It is to remember the rededication and miracle of the oil that Jews today light candles on a Hanukkah menorah, or hanukiya, for eight nights in November of December. Many of the traditional Hanukkah foods are consciously oil-based as well, from fried potato pancakes called latkes to jelly-filled doughnuts called suvganiot.

Children and adults also gather together to play with dreidels, called sivivon in Hebrew. These four-sided tops feature four letters that stand for the phrase nes gadol haya sham, a great miracle happened there. Using chocolate coins called gelt, nuts, or raisins as ‘money,' children take their cues from the letters on the spinning top as they collect or give away their goodies. During Antiochus' reign, Jews would study torah (the holy books) and pretend to be merely playing with tops if any Syrain guards appeared. Today the dreidel, latkes, and hanukiya are all reminders of the miracle in the land of Jerusalem long ago.